A matter of husbands Ferenc Molnar class 12 one act play

Unit : four – One act Plays (notes)

A matter of husbands

Ferenc Molnar

Ferenc Molnar is a Hungarian playwright. His primary aim was to entertain people by transforming his personal experiences into literary works of art. His well-known plays are The Devil, Lilion and The Swan, etc.  A Matter of Husband was originally written in Hungarian Language but later translated into English by Benjamin Glazer.

Characters

 1. Earnest Young Woman: Innocent woman who suspects that her husband has an affair with a famous actress. She has visited her to plead with her husband to get him back.  

2. Famous Actress:  she assures the young woman that she doesn't have any relationship with her husband but finally she explores the reality.

3. Alfred: Husband of Earnest

The setting of the play

The setting of the play is very simple; in a dressing room of a famous actress. The room is very attractively decorated with good furniture like sofa and chairs. It is about afternoon when the curtain rises the Earnest young woman is discovered. She is sitting on the edge of a golden chair nervously. It looks, she was waiting for someone there. At last, a famous actress enters through the curtained door at the right which leads to her boudoir (dressing room).

Summary of the play

The young woman is a very simple and non-fashioned woman who has got married to a lawyer whose name is Alfred. She feels many changes in her husband's behavior. He doesn't give her proper attention, love, affection, and care to her.  She is worried about the behavior of her husband. She knows the fact from a florist's that he sends flowers to an actress twice a week. And she gets a love letter written to an actress which she has found on a desk. This thing makes her sure that the actress and her husband have affair.

The young woman is very angry and she asks the actress to give her husband back. The actress performs as nothing knowing about her. She says that she has seen her husband two or three times after their contract was over. She is not sure whether he wears spectacles or not. The young woman accuses her of getting her husband and she has to return him back. The actress calmly says that she hasn't any relationship with her husband. But the young woman says that she has some proof that he sends flowers to her and his letter addresses the actress. The actress gets surprised by her insists. The actress tries to assure that she doesn't have any relation with him. She explains to her that her husband might be playing a comedy trick to make her jealous and regain her love again. The actress gives many examples of men getting impressed with the actress that has created dispute in their family relationships. Finally, she says that she has not any relation with him and neither getting any flowers nor getting any letter. It might be her husband's trick to order a rose from the home and cancel the order from the office, writing a letter and deliberately leaving the letter on the desk so that his wife could see and become jealous.  The actress says that if they have an affair she might find a letter written to her husband.  Earnest young woman believes in her words and apologizes for her suspicion and rude behavior. She promises not to care his any activities which are done to make her jealous. She returns to her home. Earnest the young woman thanks to the actress and takes her journey. At this time,  the actress calls Alfred to come out because his wife has gone outside.